TY - JOUR
T1 - Linked migration and labor market flexibility in the rural amenity destinations in the United States
AU - Nelson, Peter B.
AU - Nelson, Lise
AU - Trautman, Laurie
N1 - Funding Information:
The research reported here was supported by the National Science Foundation's Geography and Regional Science Program grants BCS-0852104 and BCS-0851375 . We appreciate the comments provided by Michael Woods, editor of the Journal of Rural Studies as well as those comments provided through the anonymous review process. We would also like to thank Graciela (Meche) Lu of the University of Oregon for her research assistance, and Timothy O'Grady for developing the maps. The authors are solely responsible for any errors or unconvincing interpretations.
Funding Information:
While immigrant social networks, expanding geographies of subcontracting relationships, and lateral movements out of traditional rural industries were the most common strategies used by employers to draw Latino immigrants to amenity destinations, there were a few instances in which employers augmented the supply of Latino workers through formal state programs and private services specializing in labor recruiting. As indicated above, the first Latinos arrived in Rabun County to work in the cabbage fields, and their immigration was supported by the North Carolina Employment Security Commission. The ranching community in the Steamboat region has also utilized these federally sponsored temporary worker programs. As an elderly rancher in the region describes, “I bring my hired man, and he comes back. This is his 10th year. I bring him out of Mexico. And we went through the paperwork. We do it legally. He is an H2A worker. And I bring him up legal.” Navigating these state-sponsored programs can be cumbersome, especially for smaller establishments, so formal industries have emerged over the past several decades that facilitate the process of recruiting foreign workers. Firms such as ‘Mas Labor’ specialize in recruiting foreign workers for their clients ( http://www.maslabor.com/ ). They negotiate all the necessary paperwork and provide the required legal expertise to their clients. In turn, smaller firms with more limited resources are able to tap into the international workforce for a fraction of the cost and risk associated with recruiting foreign workers on their own. As a landscaper in Steamboat Springs describes (who himself is a baby boomer amenity migrant),
PY - 2014/10
Y1 - 2014/10
N2 - This paper reports results from a series of interviews with employers in two high amenity nonmetropolitan destinations: Rabun County, Georgia, and Routt County, Colorado. These communities were selected because both have experienced rapid in-migration of aging baby boomers and Latino immigrants, many of whom are undocumented, over the past two decades. The spending of baby boomers has stimulated expansion in various sectors including construction, property management, household services, and restaurants, and Latino immigrants have been pulled into these areas as a result of the expanding labor demand in these sectors. Interviews with business owners in these sectors reveal how the supply of immigrant workers enables greater labor market flexibility - both numeric and functional. Both documented and undocumented immigrants provide numeric flexibility in that employers can draw on them in periods of high labor demand, and they are functionally flexible in the ways they move between sectors. Such increased flexibility allows employers in amenity destinations to capitalize on rapidly emerging economic opportunities, yet at the same time the interview responses reveal a high degree of internal segmentation within the Latino labor force.
AB - This paper reports results from a series of interviews with employers in two high amenity nonmetropolitan destinations: Rabun County, Georgia, and Routt County, Colorado. These communities were selected because both have experienced rapid in-migration of aging baby boomers and Latino immigrants, many of whom are undocumented, over the past two decades. The spending of baby boomers has stimulated expansion in various sectors including construction, property management, household services, and restaurants, and Latino immigrants have been pulled into these areas as a result of the expanding labor demand in these sectors. Interviews with business owners in these sectors reveal how the supply of immigrant workers enables greater labor market flexibility - both numeric and functional. Both documented and undocumented immigrants provide numeric flexibility in that employers can draw on them in periods of high labor demand, and they are functionally flexible in the ways they move between sectors. Such increased flexibility allows employers in amenity destinations to capitalize on rapidly emerging economic opportunities, yet at the same time the interview responses reveal a high degree of internal segmentation within the Latino labor force.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84905494075&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84905494075&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2014.07.008
DO - 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2014.07.008
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84905494075
SN - 0743-0167
VL - 36
SP - 121
EP - 136
JO - Journal of Rural Studies
JF - Journal of Rural Studies
ER -